Chapter 31: The First Blood

The commoners finally snapped out of their daze.

What they saw left them horrified.

Scattered limbs and bloodied remains littered the ground, turning the battlefield into a gruesome scene of carnage. Several people covered their mouths as their stomachs churned.

"They’re... all dead."

"Wait... Is that really Ryan?"

"The sickly cripple everyone called a good-for-nothing?"

"What the hell happened to him?! How did he suddenly become this strong?"

"That bastard killed four people with a single slash!"

"My God... Look at those blades!" Someone pointed at Ryan’s transformed arms, their voice trembling.

"Spider silk, blade-like claws... and that white Origin Sea Bloodline."

"That’s a D-grade Spider Bloodline he awakened, right?"

"Yeah. It’s a Lifeform-Type Bloodline. I heard it can cause the user’s body to develop spider-like traits."

The crowd stared at Ryan in disbelief. A few moments ago, they had still seen him as the frail, sickly good-for-nothing of the Cole Family.

But the man standing before them now was completely different. He looked dangerous. Terrifyingly so.

...

The sight of the blood-soaked battlefield was too much for some of the onlookers.

A few people with weaker stomachs turned away and vomited on the spot.

Then someone in the crowd suddenly screamed.

"Murder! Run!"

The shout snapped everyone back to reality.

Their expressions changed instantly.

Until now, they had been staring at Ryan as if he were simply another Bloodline Fighter. But now they remembered what he had just done.

He had killed four people. In seconds.

Panic swept through the crowd. People scattered in every direction, stumbling over one another as they desperately tried to get away. Within moments, the area was almost completely deserted.

But most of them weren’t actually afraid that Ryan would attack them.

They were afraid of what would happen next. Those four men had been members of the Sterling Family.

If the Sterling Family came looking for them later, anyone who had witnessed this scene could potentially be dragged into the conflict. It was better to leave now.

"Brother..." Ethan barely noticed the fleeing crowd. His attention remained fixed on the blood covering the ground.

His face had gone pale, and his stomach churned violently.

He had never been this close to a dead body before.

Even knowing that those men deserved what they got, seeing their remains scattered across the ground still made him deeply uncomfortable.

"Hmph." Ryan slowly exhaled. Warm blood still clung to his face.

The anger burning in his eyes hadn’t diminished, but there was an unfamiliar discomfort buried beneath it.

He had witnessed people die over money, power, and other conflicts since he was young.

But witnessing death was different from causing it.

This was the first time Ryan had personally killed someone.

For a brief moment, his mind struggled to accept what he had done.

Then his eyes fell upon his father. A large footprint was clearly stamped across the man’s bloodied body.

His parents were still lying unconscious.

The discomfort in Ryan’s heart vanished. It was replaced by cold fury.

Mercy toward an enemy was cruelty toward yourself. If you didn’t kill your enemies, they would eventually kill you and everyone you loved.

That was the reality of the Crimson Expanse.

Ryan silently wiped the blood from his face. His expression gradually hardened. He had killed someone. He didn’t like the feeling.

But he would adapt. He had no choice. With a thought, the enormous amount of Spider Silk wrapped around his body began to move.

Ryan casually tossed the upper halves of the four black-clothed men’s bodies aside.

The moment they lost their targets, the countless strands of Spider Silk began retracting.

They writhed through the air like a swarm of pale snakes before sinking back into Ryan’s body.

Ryan’s expression became completely emotionless. Then he turned his attention toward Wesley.

He started walking.

~THUMP~

~THUMP~

~THUMP~

His footsteps were slow and steady.

Each step seemed to echo through the silent street.

To Wesley, however, those footsteps sounded like a countdown to his death.

Ryan’s blood-covered figure drew closer with every step.

Wesley’s entire body trembled. His terror overwhelmed him completely, and he lost control of his bladder and bowels. His pants quickly became soaked, while a foul stench spread through the air.

He didn’t seem to notice. He only stared at Ryan in horror.

"No!"

Wesley desperately pushed himself backward.

"You can’t kill me!"

His voice cracked with panic.

"I’m a member of the Sterling Family! If you kill me, my father will avenge me!"

He pointed at Ryan with a trembling hand.

"He’ll massacre your entire family! Every single one of them! They’ll all be buried with me!"

Ryan stopped. His eyes became ice-cold. "Heh..."

A low, humorless laugh escaped his lips. "Is that so?"

He slowly clenched his fists. "Then let him come."

The moment Wesley threatened his family again, whatever restraint remained inside Ryan disappeared.

BOOM!

Ryan suddenly launched himself into the air. His body shot upward like a cannonball, rising six or seven meters above the ground.

Wesley’s eyes widened as Ryan twisted in midair and raised his right fist.

White Origin Sea Bloodline surged around his arm, wrapping his fist in a terrifying layer of energy.

Then he dropped.

Like a meteor falling from the sky.

His fist came crashing down.

"Die!"

BOOM!

Ryan’s fist slammed directly into Wesley’s chest.

The impact was devastating.

Wesley’s chest collapsed instantly beneath the overwhelming force. His ribs shattered, splintering outward through his body like a spiderweb.

The force of the punch didn’t stop there.

It drove straight through his chest and smashed into the ground beneath him.

BOOM!

The earth shook as dust, sand, and chunks of stone erupted into the air.

Wesley’s body was torn apart by the sheer force of the impact, his remains blasted in several directions.

Blood sprayed across the surrounding ground. For several seconds, nobody spoke.

The difference between an ordinary human and a Bloodline Fighter was simply too great.

To an ordinary person, that kind of force was unimaginable.

Wesley Sterling had been killed by a single punch. And there was nothing left for him to do but die.

Ethan stared at the scene, his face pale. "Awakened Ones..."

His voice was barely a whisper. "That kind of power..."

His emotions were complicated. Part of him found the scene brutal. Another part of him felt an undeniable sense of relief.

Because this was the Crimson Expanse. Here, strength was everything. The weak could be trampled at any moment.

If you didn’t kill your enemies, they would eventually find a way to kill you.

And if Ryan hadn’t arrived when he did... Ethan looked toward his unconscious parents.

The him and the rest of his family, the Cole Family might already have been dead.

....

"Hoo..."

After the intense fighting, Ryan finally let out a long breath.

His Origin Energy had been heavily depleted, and exhaustion was beginning to creep into his body. He wiped the blood from his face before quickly rushing to Ethan’s side.

"Dad, Mom, and Little Fei. How are they?"

"Brother, don’t worry. Dad and Mom should be okay. They’re unconscious, but they’re still breathing."

Ethan quickly composed himself and answered.

"As for Little Fei... he was probably terrified and cried himself to sleep. You should check them again, just to be sure."

"Okay." Ryan nodded.

He immediately placed a hand on each of their bodies and carefully circulated a trace of Origin Energy through them, examining their conditions.

A moment later, his expression turned serious.

His parents had suffered severe internal injuries and lost a considerable amount of blood. They needed immediate treatment.

Healing Pills would be the safest option.

If their injuries were left untreated for too long, their lives could be in danger.

As for Little Fei, his condition was much better.

He had no serious injuries and appeared to have simply passed out from fear. A good night’s sleep should be enough for him to recover.

"They’ll be fine for now." Ryan slowly withdrew his Origin Energy. "But we can’t stay here."

He glanced toward the battlefield. "The Sterling Family could send people here at any moment. We need to leave before they arrive."

Ryan carefully positioned his unconscious parents against the wheelchair before helping Ethan into it.

"You stay here and watch them. I’ll be back soon."

Ethan nodded.

Ryan turned away, his expression becoming solemn.

He knew he had been impulsive. Perhaps too impulsive. Killing Wesley Sterling and his men would undoubtedly bring trouble.

But the moment he thought about what had happened, Ryan didn’t regret his decision.

They had severely injured his parents. They had tried to kill his younger brothers.

Even if he could go back and make the same choice again, he would.

Family was Ryan’s absolute bottom line. It was the one thing he could never allow anyone to trample on.

As for the City Watch, Ryan wasn’t too worried.

Before making his move, he had already checked the surrounding area carefully. There had been no City Watch patrols nearby.

But that didn’t mean they were safe. The real danger was the Sterling Family.

Even though Ryan had awakened his Bloodline and could potentially flee into the wilderness, escaping wasn’t as simple as running away.

His family had already been exhausted by their journey.

Taking them through the wilderness would expose them to countless dangers, including powerful Exotic Beasts.

They might escape the Sterling Family only to die in the wilderness.

No. The safest option was to leave immediately, find somewhere secure, and hide until things settled down.

Originally, after obtaining the mysterious Boundless Creation Furnace, Ryan had planned to keep a low profile.

He needed time to secretly develop his strength. The Furnace was too valuable. If word got out about it, he couldn’t even imagine how many powerful people would come after him.

His original plan had been simple. Stay hidden. Grow stronger. Reveal nothing. But Wesley Sterling had completely destroyed that plan.

Ryan’s eyes narrowed. The situation was dangerous, but his mind was already working rapidly.

A new plan had begun taking shape.

"Okay, Brother. Don’t worry." Ethan nodded firmly. "I’ll watch over them."

"Good." Ryan gave him a nod before turning away.

He quickly began cleaning up the battlefield.

The remains of the four black-clothed men were scattered across the area. Ryan gathered what he could and piled the bodies together before setting them ablaze.

The flames quickly consumed the remains. Ryan watched for a moment to make sure nothing obvious was left behind.

Then his sharp eyes caught something nearby.

It was a spatial ring. It had been burned until the metal was red-hot, but it was still intact.

Ryan immediately recognized it. It most likely belonged to Wesley Sterling. He didn’t have time to inspect it now.

He picked it up, tossed it into his own spatial ring, and continued working.

Once the area had been dealt with, Ryan rushed back into his house.

He didn’t waste time packing everything.

Clothes, pots, basins, and other ordinary household items were useless.

They took up too much space, and replacing them later would be easy enough as long as he had gold coins.

Ryan only took the essentials. Fortunately, his home was extremely simple.

There weren’t many valuable possessions to begin with.

After gathering everything important, he stuffed the small bundle into his spatial ring.

The ring only had about a cubic meter of storage space, but that was barely enough.

Ryan looked around the nearly empty house one last time.

Then he turned and walked out. There was no point looking back.

From this moment onward, the Cole Family could no longer remain here.